Image processing apparatus, image processing system and image processing method

ABSTRACT

An image processing apparatus includes an input unit inputting image data, a memory having a storage region for storing the image data inputted by the input unit, a printer printing the image data in response to an user&#39;s instruction of printing the image data stored in the storage region, a transmitting unit transmitting set information indicating setting of the storage region to an other image processing apparatus, and a control unit controlling the transmitting unit not to transmit the set information to the other image processing apparatus when a pass word for accessing the storage region is included in the set information, and to transmit the set information to the other image processing apparatus when the pass word for accessing the storage region is not included in the set information.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a technique by which an imageprocessing apparatus distributes its own set information to other imageprocessing apparatuses.

2. Description of Related Art

The number of the apparatuses having a function called as a box using astorage device has been increasing among the recent image processingapparatuses. A box function is a function of reusing image data storedin every region produced by dividing a storage device such as a largecapacity hard disk into a plurality of regions beforehand. For example,by storing the image data read with a scanner or the image datatransmitted from a computer in a box, and later by specifying the boxstoring the image with an operation unit to select a target image datain an image data list in the box, it is possible to print the image dataas an image, or to transmit the image data to the outside by means of afacsimile or E-mail.

Some image processing apparatuses equipped with such a box function areconfigured to be able to set a pass word in each box in order that manyand unspecified users cannot access the image data in the box.

On the other hand, there is a request for the reduction of managementcosts by synchronizing the set information of a plurality of apparatusesin a user environment. Various means for distributing the setinformation on an image processing apparatus to a plurality of otherimage processing apparatuses have been provided to the request. Forexample, an image processing apparatus capable of distributingpredetermined set information to other apparatuses without installing anadministrative server has been considered.

As a use form of the box function capable of setting a pass word asdescribed above, the use form can be roughly divided into twocategories. One of them is a form in which a plurality of users commonlyuses individual boxes without attaching a pass word to each box, and theother of them is a form in which a pass word is attached to each box andeach box is personally used as a box for individual use. In an imageprocessing apparatus having the box function, a user can register theway of using each box whether to use it in common by a plurality ofusers or whether to use it individually as a box for personal use, asbox set information. Then, the box set information can be distributed toother image processing apparatuses.

However, when a box is used as a box for individual use, a familiarimage processing apparatus on a dwelling floor in a school or an officeis usually selected as the image processing apparatus having the box. Onthe contrary, it is rare to set a box for individual use to the imageprocessing apparatus located on another floor. Therefore, it isfrequently unnecessary to distribute a pass word for a box forindividual use to an image processing apparatus located far away.

Moreover, in an image processing apparatus, an upper limit exists on thenumber of boxes. Moreover, the number of the upper limit is not solarge. Therefore, if the boxes to which a pass word is set unnecessarilyincrease in number although they are not used, the user who can use theboxes is unnecessarily limited, and user-friendliness falls.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention was made to such a background technique, andprovides an image processing apparatus, an image processing system andimage processing method, all capable of preventing unnecessary settingof pass word in another image processing apparatus even in case ofdistributing set information including the pass word to the other imageprocessing apparatus, and all capable of avoiding lowering theuser-friendliness.

According to an aspect of the present invention, an image processingapparatus includes an input unit inputting image data, a memory having astorage region for storing the image data inputted by the input unit, aprinter printing the image data in response to an user's instruction ofprinting the image data stored in the storage region, a transmittingunit transmitting set information indicating setting of the storageregion to an other image processing apparatus, and a control unitcontrolling the transmitting unit not to transmit the set information tothe other image processing apparatus when a pass word for accessing thestorage region is included in the set information, and to transmit theset information to the other image processing apparatus when the password for accessing the storage region is not included in the setinformation.

Moreover, according to another aspect of the present invention, an imageprocessing apparatus includes an input unit inputting image data, amemory having a storage region for storing the image data inputted bythe input unit, a printer printing the image data in response to anuser's instruction of printing the image data stored in the storageregion, a transmitting unit transmitting set information indicatingsetting of the storage region to an other image processing apparatus,and a control unit controlling the transmitting unit not to transmit apass word in the set information to the other image processing apparatuswhen the pass word for accessing the storage region is included in theset information, and to transmit the set information to the other imageprocessing apparatus when the pass word for accessing the storage regionis not included in the set information.

Moreover, according to further aspect of the present invention, an imageprocessing apparatus includes an input unit inputting image data, amemory including a storage region for storing the image data inputted bythe input unit, a printer printing the image data in response to auser's instruction instructing printing the image data stored in thestorage region, a receiving unit receiving set information indicatingsetting of the storage region from another image processing apparatus,an updating unit updating the setting of the storage region based on theset information received by the receiving unit, and a control unitcontrolling the updating unit not to perform updating by the updatingunit when a pass word for accessing the storage region is set, and toperform the updating by the updating unit when the pass word foraccessing the storage region is not set.

Other features, objects and advantage of the present invention will beapparent from the following description when taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designatethe same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and,together with the description, serve to explain the principles of theinvention.

FIG. 1 is a view showing a basic system configuration in Embodiments1-3;

FIG. 2 is the system block diagram of each of a copier 1001 and a copier1002 in Embodiments 1-3;

FIG. 3 is an example of box set information on each of the copier 1001and the copier 1002 in Embodiments 1-3;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing box set information distributionprocessing in Embodiment 1;

FIG. 5 is an example of the state before the execution of distributionprocessing of the set information of the copier 1001 used as adistribution source apparatus and the copier 1002 used as a distributionreception apparatus in Embodiment 1;

FIG. 6 is an example of the state after the execution of thedistribution processing of the set information on the copier 1001 usedas the distribution source apparatus and the copier 1002 used as thedistribution reception apparatus in Embodiment 1;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the renewal processing at the time ofupdating the own box set information of the distribution receptionapparatus;

FIG. 8 is an example of the state after the execution of thedistribution processing of the set information on the copier 1001 usedas the distribution source apparatus and the copier 1002 used as thedistribution reception apparatus in Embodiment 1;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the box set information distributionprocessing in Embodiment 2;

FIG. 10 is an example of the state after the execution of thedistribution processing of the set information on the copier 1001 usedas the distribution source apparatus and the copier 1002 used as thedistribution reception apparatus in Embodiment 2;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the box set information distributionprocessing in Embodiment 3; and

FIG. 12 is a display example for notifying a user of a box having a setpass word.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1

In the following, Embodiment 1 is described.

FIG. 1 is a view of a general system configuration by which an imageprocessing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 is used.

A copier 1001 and a copier 1002 are apparatuses which read a manuscriptand transmit the read manuscript to various apparatuses. A facsimile1003 is a facsimile machine which receives the data read by the copier1001 through a public line 1009 and prints the received data. A database/mail server 1004 is a computer in which an application serverstoring the data read by the copiers 1001 and 1002 is operating. Aclient server 1005 is a computer which is connected with the database/mail server 1004 and downloads the stored data to display the data.A printer 1006 is a printing machine which prints the image data read bythe copiers 1001 and 1002 and PDL data generated by the client server1005. A directory server 1007 stores various kinds of directoryinformation such as names, E-mail addresses and fax numbers. The copiers1001 and 1002 and the client server 1005 can access these pieces ofdirectory information by protocols such as Lightweight Directory AccessProtocol (LDAP). An Ethernet 1008 is a network to which the copiers 1001and 1002, the data base/mail server 1004, the client server 1005, theprinter 1006 and the directory server 1007 are connected. Incidentally,the copiers 1001 and 1002 in the present embodiment severally have a boxfunction. The box function is a function of reusing the image datastored in every region produced by dividing a storage device such as alarge capacity hard disk into a plurality of regions beforehand. Forexample, by storing the image data read with a scanner or the image datatransmitted from a computer in a box, and later by specifying the boxstoring the image with an operation unit to select the target image datain an image data list in the box, it is possible to print the imagedata, or to transmit the image data to the outside by means of afacsimile or E-mail.

In Embodiment 1, although a form (push type) in which set information isdistributed from the copier 1001 to the copier 1002 using the Ethernet1008 without making the client server 1005 intervene between the copiers1001 and 1002 is described, a form (pull type) in which the copier 1002acquires set information from the copier 1001 may be adopted.Alternatively, a configuration in which the client server 1005 accessesthe copier 1001 to download set information and then the set informationis uploaded from the client server 1005 to the copier 1002 may beadopted. The connection medium in this case may be any one which canperform bidirectional communication, and also the protocol used formutual data transmission and reception among the copiers 1001 and 1002and the client server 1005 on the connection medium may be any one ofthe existing protocols such as Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP),Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), and File Transfer Protocol (FTP).The protocol may be a quite original application protocol.

FIG. 2 is a system block diagram in Embodiment 1, and the system ismounted in the copiers 1001 and 1002.

A controller unit 2000 is a controller for performing input and outputof image information and device information by being connected with ascanner 2070, being an image input device, and a printer 2095, being animage output device, and by being connected with a LAN 2011 and a publicline (WAN) 2051 on the other hand. A CPU 2001 is a controllercontrolling the whole system. A RAM 2002 is a system work memory for theCPU 2001 to operate, and is also an image memory for storing image datatemporarily. A ROM 2003 is a boot ROM, and the boot program of a systemis stored. A HDD 2004 is a hard disk drive, and stores system softwareand image data. An operating unit I/F 2006 is an interface unit with anoperation unit (UI) 2012 including a touch panel, and outputs the imagedata which will be displayed on the operation unit 2012 to the operationunit 2012. Moreover, the operating unit I/F 2006 plays a role oftransmitting the information inputted by a user of the present systemwith the operation unit 2012. A network I/F 2010 is connected to the LAN2011, and the network I/F 2010 outputs and inputs information. A modem2050 is connected with a public line 2051, and the modem 2050 outputsand inputs information. The above devices are arranged on a system bus2007. An image bus I/F 2005 is a bus bridge which connects the systembus 2007 with an image bus 2008, through which image data is transferredat a high speed, and which changes a data structure. The image bus 2008is composed of a PCI bus or IEEE 1394. The following devices arearranged on the image bus 2008. A raster image processor (RIP) 2060develops the PDL code to a bit map image. A device I/F unit 2020connects the controller unit 2000 with the scanner 2070 and the printer2095, which are an image input device and an image output device,respectively, and changes a synchronous system/an asynchronous system ofimage data. A scanner image processing unit 2080 performs correction,processing and editing to input image data. A printer image processingunit 2090 performs a correction, a resolution conversion and the like ofthe printer 2095 to printing output image data. An image rotation unit2030 rotates image data. An image compression unit 2040 performscompression processing and expansion processing by JPEG for multilevelimage data, or by JBIG, MMR and MH for binary image data. An IC cardslot 2100 enables inputting and outputting a key used for enciphermentand decipherment by inputting a suitable personal identifier number(PIN) code after inserting an IC card medium. An encipherment anddecipherment processing unit 2110 is a hardware accelerator board forperforming encipherment/decipherment processing of data using the key ofthe IC card slot 2100.

FIG. 3 is an example of the box set information on the copiers 1001 and1002 in Embodiment 1.

The box set information can be roughly divided into two categories. Oneof them is box common setting 301 pertaining to the setting common tothe whole of a plurality of boxes. The other of them is the setting ofevery box 302 pertaining to the box setting for every box. In thepresent embodiment, each of the copiers 1001 and 1002 has the total of100 boxes of the box numbers 00-99. Then, the plurality of boxes can beused, for example, by an individual user or by a group. Here, the boxcommon setting is the setting common to all of the 100 boxes. Forexample, a “printing paper photograph mode” is an example of the boxcommon set item. When the “printing paper photograph mode” is set to beon, “print photograph” and “printing paper photograph” are made to bepossible to be selected. The example of FIG. 3 shows the case where the“printing paper photograph mode” is set to be on.

In the setting of every box 302, the setting of every box of the 100boxes is shown. Reference numerals 303, 304 and 305 show the examples ofthe setting of every box with regard to the box numbers of No. 00, No.01 and No. 99, respectively. There are a “box name”, a “pass word” andan “automatic document deleting time” as the set items of the setting ofevery box. In the “box name”, a user can set an arbitrary name for makea box easy to identify. The “pass word” can be set in order to avoidthat many and unspecified users access the image data in a box. The“automatic document deleting time” sets a time of deleting the imagedata stored in the box after the elapse of a predetermined time.

The information of the box common setting and the setting of every boxis recorded on the HDD 2004 of each of the copiers 1001 and 1002. Theinformation can be referred to or changed with the operation unit 2012or a computer connected to the controller unit 2000 with the network I/F2010. Incidentally, although the number of the boxes is set to be 100 inthe present embodiment, the number may be more or less than 100.Moreover, the copiers 1001 and 1002 may be configured to be able to setthe set items other than the set items mentioned above.

In the present embodiment, it is possible to distribute the box setinformation described with reference to FIG. 3 so that the box setinformation may be synchronized in a plurality of copiers. For example,the box set information of the copier 1001 can be distributed directlyto the copier 1002 without making any servers intervene between thecopiers 1001 and 1002, and the box set information of the copiers 1001and 1002 can be unified.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of box set informationdistribution processing. The processing is executed in response to apredetermined instruction made by a user with the operation unit 2012 ofthe copier 1001 or 1002, or in response to a predetermined instructionmade from a distant place by a user with a computer connected to thecontrol unit 2000 through a network with the network I/F 2010.

First, a distribution exclusion box flag is initialized at Step S401.This operation is one of the initialization processing for thesubsequent distribution processing. The processing progresses to StepS402, and the “box common set information” among the pieces of box setinformation is registered as the distribution information distributed toother copiers. In the example of FIG. 3, the information of “printingpaper photograph mode is on” is registered as the distributioninformation as the box common set information.

Next, the set information for every box is distributed. In order torefer to the set information of every box sequentially in the order fromthe box number of No. 00 to No. 99, the box number N referred to at StepS403 is set as 00. At Step S404, it is judged whether the box number Nis larger than 99 or not. That is, at Step S404, it is judged whetherall pieces of box information have been referred to or not. When thenumber of boxes is 50, it is judged whether the box number is largerthan 50 or not here.

When the result of the judgment at Step S404 is no, i.e. when the boxnumber referred to now is 99 or less, the processing progresses to StepS408, and the box set information of the corresponding number is read.For example, in FIG. 3, when the box set information of the box numberof No. 00 is read, the pieces of information such as “box number=00”,“box name=common”, “pass word=none” and “automatic document deletingtime=24 hours” are read. Next, the processing progresses to Step S409,and it is judged whether any pass word is set or not by referring to thebox set information read at Step S408. When a pass word is set, theprocessing progresses to Step S410, and the distribution exclusion boxflag is set to indicate the existence. Then, the processing progressesto Step S412. When there is no set pass word, the processing progressesto Step S411, and the information read at Step S408 is registered as thedistribution information. Then, the processing progresses to Step S412.

At Step S412, a number (N+1) is stored in the box number N, and theprocessing progresses to Step S404 again. That is, the processing offrom Step S408 to Step S412 is repeated until the box number N becomeslarger than 99 (or until the answer at Step S404 becomes yes), and setinformation is referred to about all boxes as a result.

At Step S404, when the number N is judged to be larger than 99, namelyit is judged that all the boxes have been referred to, the processingprogresses to Step S405. Then, it is judged whether any distributionexclusion box flag exists or not. When it is judged that thedistribution exclusion box flag exists, the processing progresses toStep S406, and the existence of the distribution exclusion box flag isnotified to the user. That is, it is notified that there is a box (orthe box number thereof) to which the set information of every box is notdistributed.

When there are no distribution exclusion box flags, or when somedistribution exclusion box flags exist, the fact is notified to theuser, and the processing progresses to S407. At Sep S407, thedistribution information registered for distributing to other copiers isdistributed to the other copiers. The information transmitted here isspecifically the “box common set information” and the “set informationof every box” having no set pass word.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a state before the execution of thedistribution processing of set information of the copier 1001, being thedistribution source apparatus, and the copier 1002, being thedistribution reception apparatus, in Embodiment 1.

In this state, when a user instructs box set information distributionprocessing using a computer connected with a network with the operationpart 2012 of the copier 1001, which is the distribution sourceapparatus, or the network I/F 2010 of the copier 1001, the processingshown by the flowchart of FIG. 4 is executed.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the state after the execution of thedistribution processing of the set information on the copier 1001 usedas the distribution source apparatus and the copier 1002 used as thedistribution reception apparatus in Embodiment 1.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the copier 1001, which is the distribution sourceapparatus, no pass words are set to the box number of No. 00, but, onthe other hand, pass words are set to the box numbers of No. 01 and No.99. Thereby, the box set information of the box number of No. 00 isdistributed, and the box set information of the box numbers of No. 01and No. 99 is not distributed. As the result, the copier 1002, which isthe distribution reception apparatus, receives the distribution of thebox set information from the copier 1001, and as shown by the referencenumeral 602 of FIG. 6, its own box set information is changed. That is,the printing paper photograph mode, which is the “box common setinformation,” is changed into on from off, and the box name, which isthe “set information of every box” of the box number of No. 00, ischanged into common. Furthermore, the automatic document deleting timeis changed into 24 hours.

Although the examples of FIGS. 5 and 6 shows the case where a defaultsetting is performed to the box setting of the copier 1002, which is thedistribution reception apparatus, it can be also considered in somecases that the boxes of the copier 1002, which is the distributionreception apparatus, are used by any user now. That is, the case where apass word and the like are set also in the box of the copier 1002, whichis the distribution reception apparatus, can be considered.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the renewal processing atthe time of receiving the box set information distributed from thecopier 1001, and updating the own box set information in the copier1002, which is the distribution reception apparatus.

The renewal processing of the box set information in the distributionreception apparatus is described using the flowchart of FIG. 7.

First, at Step S701, the copier 1002 receivers the distributioninformation transmitted from the copier 1001, which is the distributionsource apparatus.

The processing of the copier 1002 progresses to Step S702, and thecopier 1002 extracts the “box common set information” in the receivedbox set information to renew its own “box common set information”.

Then, after Step S703, the copier 1002 performs the renewal processingof the “set information of every box”, which is the information otherthan the “box common set information” in the received box setinformation. Incidentally, the distributed “set information of everybox” is here the set information of every box pertaining to the boxhaving no set pass words in the distribution source apparatus.

First, at Step S703, the copier 1002 sets the box number N to be 00. Theprocessing of the copier 1002 progresses to Step S704, and the copier1002 judges whether the box number N is larger than 99 or not. That is,the copier 1002 here judges whether the copier 1002 has confirmed itsown boxes until the last one (the maximum value of the box number is setto be 99 in the present embodiment) or not.

When the copier 1002 judges to be no at Step S704, the processingthereof progresses to Step S705, and the copier 1002 reads the setinformation of every box about the box of the box number of No. N amongthe boxes which the copier 1002 has. The processing of the copier 1002progresses to Step S706, and the copier 1002 judges whether the read boxset information includes any pass word or not. That is, the copier 1002judges whether the pass word is set to the box of No. N or not. As theresult, when the pass word is not set, the processing of the copier 1002progresses to Step S707. At Step S707, the copier 1002 picks up the “setinformation of every box” of the number corresponding to the read boxnumber out of the received box set information, and renews its own setinformation of every box.

When the copier 1002 performs the judgment of yes at Step S706, i.e.when the pass word is set to the box of No. N read at Step S705, thecopier 1002 picks up the “set information of every box” of the numbercorresponding to the number out of the received box set information, anddeletes the information. After that, the processing of the copier 1002progresses to Step S709, and the copier 1002 stores the number (N+1)into the box number N to return to Step S704 again.

Thus, the copier 1002 judges whether any pass words are set to each ofits own boxes one by one. When no pass words are set, the copier 1002renews the box of the number to the received set information of everybox. When a pass word is set, the copier 1002 abandons the setinformation of every box received related to the box of the number.

When the copier 1002 performs the judgment of yes at Step S704, namelywhen the renewal processing is completed with regard to all boxes, theprocessing of the copier 1002 progresses to Step S710, and copiernotifies the user of the end of the renewal processing by displaying theend of the renewal processing on the operation panel of the operationunit 2012, or by the similar operation.

FIG. 8 is an example of the state after the execution of thedistribution processing of the set information on the copier 1001 usedas the distribution source apparatus and the copier 1002 used asdistribution reception apparatus in Embodiment 1.

The point different from the example shown in FIG. 6 is that a boxhaving a set pass word exists in the boxes of the copier 1002, which isthe distribution reception apparatus. As described above using theflowchart of FIG. 7, no renewal processing is performed to the boxhaving a set pass word even when the box set information is distributed.That is, because the pass word is set to the box of the box number ofNo. 00 of the copier 1002, the renewal processing has not beenperformed. As a result, when the box set information is distributed fromthe copier 1001 to the copier 1002, the box set information of the boxnumbers to each of which no pass words are set and the box common setinformation are synchronized with each other between the copiers 1001and 1002.

As described above, according to Embodiment 1, it is possible todirectly distribute own box set information to another copier withoutmaking any external apparatuses such as a server intervene in order tosynchronize the box set information of a plurality of copiers.Furthermore, because the box set information of a box having a set password in the copier used as the distribution source apparatus can beprevented from being distributed needlessly, a more user-friendly boxset information distribution system can be provided. On the other hand,also to the box having a set pass word in the copier used as thedistribution reception apparatus, the box set information of the box isnot renewed arbitrarily, and the user-friendly box set informationdistribution system can be provided.

Embodiment 2

Embodiment 2 is shown below.

Because the basic system configuration diagram, the basic system blockdiagram, an example of the box set information, and an example of thestate of the execution of the distribution processing of Embodiment 2are the same as those of FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 5 of Embodiment 1,respectively, their details are omitted.

The method of Embodiment 1 is one in which, when a pass word is set tothe box set information for distribution, the box set information of thebox is excluded from the distribution objects. However, it isconsiderable that in some cases, for example, a box name, an automaticdocument deleting time and the like, which are the box set informationother than the pass word, are desired to be distributed.

Accordingly, in Embodiment 2, when a pass word is set to the box setinformation to be distributed, the box set information other than thepass word in the box set information are made to be an object to bedistributed, and only the pass word information is excluded from theobjects to be distributed.

Hereinafter, the box set information distribution processing inEmbodiment 2 is described using FIG. 9.

Because the processing from Step S901 to Step S904 is the same as thatfrom Step S401 to Step S404 in the FIG. 4, respectively, the descriptionthereof is omitted.

When the result of the judgment at Step S904 is no, namely when the boxnumber referred to now is 99 or less, the processing progresses to StepS908, and the box set information of the corresponding number is read.Next, the processing progresses to Step S909, and the box setinformation read at Step S908 is referred to. Then it is judged whetherany pass word is set to the referred box set information or not. When apass word is set, the processing progresses to Step S910, and the setinformation other than the pass word information among the box setinformation of the corresponding box number is registered asdistribution information. After that, at Step S911, the distributionexclusion box flag is set to indicate the existence, and the processingprogresses to Step S913.

When there is no pass word setting as a result of the judgment of StepS909, the processing progresses to Step S912, and the information readat Step S908 is registered as distribution information. Then, theprocessing progresses to Step S913.

At Step S913, a number (N+1) is stored in the box number N, and theprocessing again progresses to Step S904. That is, the processing ofSteps S908 to S913 is repeated until the box number N becomes largerthan 99 (until the judgment result at Step S904 becomes yes), and theset information is referred to about all boxes as a result.

When it is judged that the box number N is larger than 99, namely it isjudged that all of the boxes have been referred to, at Step S904, theprocessing progresses to Step S905, and it is judged whether there areany distribution exclusion box flags or not. When it is judged thatthere is a distribution exclusion box flag, the processing progresses toStep S906, and the existence of the distribution exclusion box flag isnotified to a user. That is, it is notified that there is a box to whichany pass words is not distributed, or the box number is notified.

When there are no distribution exclusion box flags, or after thenotification of the existence of the distribution exclusion box flagswhen they exist, the processing progresses to Step S907. At Step S907,the distribution information registered for distributing to othercopiers is distributed to the other copiers. The information transmittedhere is specifically the “box common set information”, the “setinformation of every box” having not set pass words, and the “setinformation of every box other than pass word” having a set pass word.

FIG. 10 is an example of the state after the execution of thedistribution processing of the set information on the copier 1001 usedas the distribution source apparatus and the copier 1002 used as thedistribution reception apparatus in Embodiment 2.

By executing the flowchart of FIG. 9 from the state of FIG. 5, all ofthe set information of every pass word of the box 00, to which no passwords are set, is distributed from the copier 1001 used as thedistribution source apparatus, and the set information of every boxother than the pass word is distributed to the box 01 and the box 99,which have set pass words. In response to the distribution, as for thebox set information of the copier 1002 used as the distributionreception apparatus, all the set information of every box is changed asfor the box 00, and the set information of every box other than the passwords are changed as for the set information of the boxes 01 and 99.

As described above, according to Embodiment 2, for example, a box name,an automatic document deleting time and the like, which are the box setinformation other than the pass words, can be transmitted as for theboxes having set pass words.

Embodiment 3

Embodiment 3 is shown below.

Because the basic system configuration diagram, the basic system blockdiagram, an example of the box set information, and an example of thestate of the execution of the distribution processing of Embodiment 3are the same as those of FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 5 of Embodiment 1,respectively, their details are omitted.

The methods of Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2 are one in which, when apass word is set to the box set information to be distributed, the boxset information of the box is excluded from the distribution objects, orone in which only the pass word is excluded from the distributionobjects in the same case.

However, it is considerable that in some cases, the box set informationof the box having a set pass word is all desired to be transmitted inorder to synchronize the box set information between copiers even if thepass word is set to the box set information to be distributed.

Accordingly, in Embodiment 3, when a pass word is set to the box setinformation to be distributed, it is made to be possible for a user toselect whether the box set information pertaining to the box is made tobe a distribution object or not.

Hereinafter, the box set information distribution processing inEmbodiment 3 is described using FIG. 11.

Because the processing of FIG. 11 is basically the same flow as that ofFIG. 4 illustrating the box set information distribution processing inEmbodiment 1, the steps performing the same processing as that of FIG. 4are omitted to be described, and only the steps different from those ofEmbodiment 1 are described.

First, initialization is performed without the flag of box with password. The initialization is almost the same processing as the processingof initialization without the distribution exclusion box flag at StepS401 in FIG. 4. But in the processing of Embodiment 3, because the setinformation of every box of the box having a set pass word is notautomatically excluded from the distribution information, only the pointthat whether the pass word setting is performed or not is checked toeach box is different.

When it is judged that a pass word is set to a box of an object at StepS1111, the flag of box with pass word is set to indicate the existenceat Step S1112.

Similarly to the processing of FIG. 4, when the judgment of whether thepass word setting has been performed to all of the own boxes or not hasended (when the judgment at Step S1104 becomes yes), the processingprogresses to Step S1105.

At Step S1105, it is judged whether any flag of box with pass wordexists or not. When the result of the judgment is no, the processingprogresses to Step S1109, and the box set information registered as thedistribution information is distributed. That is, in this case, the boxcommon set information and the set information of every boxcorresponding to all the boxes are distributed.

When the result of the judgment at Step S1105 is yes, namely when thereis a box to which a pass word is set, the processing progresses to StepS1106, and the existence of the box is notified to the user. As themethod of the notification, a display panel of the operation unit 2012and a method of displaying the existence of the box on the display of acomputer connected to the network through the network I/F 2010. FIG. 12is a display example at this time. As shown in FIG. 12, the existence ofthe box is displayed on the display panel of the operation unit 2012 ofthe copier being operated now, or on the display of the computerconnected through the network with the network I/F 2010, and the user islet to select whether the set information of every box pertaining to thebox having the set pass word may be set as the distribution informationor not. Incidentally, in the display example shown in FIG. 12, the useris let to select whether to distribute the set information of every boxor not. But, for example, when there is a plurality of boxes having setpass words, it is possible to adopt a system by which the user canselect the execution of the distribution of the set information of everybox to every box in a way in which a certain box is made to bedistributed and another box is made not to be distributed, or in asimilar way. By adopting such a system, the user can perform finersetting with regard to the distribution of the box set information.

At Step S1107, it is judged whether there has been any instructioninstructing to set the set information of every box pertaining to thebox having the set pass word to the distribution information from theuser or not.

When the instruction instructing the distribution has been made, theprocessing proceeds to Step S1108, and the set information of every boxpertaining to the box having the set pass word is registered as thedistribution information. When it is possible to set the execution ofthe distribution to every box, the set information of every boxpertaining to the box the distribution of which has been instructed isregistered as the distribution information.

When the result of the judgment at Step S1107 is no, namely when it isinstructed not to set the set information of every box pertaining to thebox having the set pass word as the distribution information, or whenthe processing at Step S1108 has ended, the processing progresses toStep S1109, and the box set information registered as the distributioninformation is distributed.

As described above, according to Embodiment 3, when a pass word is setto the box set information to be distributed, it is made to be possiblefor a user to select whether to set the box set information pertainingto the box as an object to be distributed or not. Consequently, a boxset information distribution system more reflecting the requirement ofthe user can be provided.

Other Embodiments

Although the copier has been exemplified as the image processingapparatus, the present invention is not limited to the copier, and thepresent invention can be applied to various image processing apparatusesprovided with storage means (the so-called box function) composed of aplurality of storage regions.

In the above described embodiment, based on the existence andinexistence of the pass word, it is determined as to whether thedistribution exclusion box flag is set to indicate the existence orinexistence. While, in an alternative embodiment, it may be determinedbased on the other factor. For example, it may be based on a factor asto whether a box name is exist or not, or based on a factor as towhether a predetermined check by user is exist or not.

Moreover, although the above-mentioned embodiments are ones having boxset information as their objects, it is needless to say that the presentinvention can be applied to the transmission destination information byreplacing the box set information with transmission destinationinformation such as an E-mail address, a URL and FAX number.

Incidentally, the present invention may be applied to a system composedof a plurality of pieces of equipment, or may be applied to an apparatuscomposed of a piece of equipment. It is needless to say that the presentinvention can be achieved by providing a medium such as a storage mediumstoring the program codes of the software realizing the functions of theembodiments described above, and by reading the program codes stored inthe medium such as the storage medium with a computer (or CPU and MPU)of the system or of the apparatus to execute the read program codes.

In this case, the program codes read from the medium such as the storagemedium themselves realize the functions of the embodiments describedabove, and the medium such as the storage medium storing the programcodes constitutes the present invention. As the medium such as thestorage medium for supplying the program codes, for example, a floppy(registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, an optical disc, amagneto-optical disc, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a non-volatilememory card, a ROM, download through a network, and the like can beused.

Moreover, not only the functions of the embodiments described above canbe realized by executing the program codes read by a computer, but alsothe case where the functions of the embodiments described above arerealized by the actual processing a part or the whole of which isexecuted by an OS operating on the computer based on the instructions ofthe program codes is included in the present invention.

Furthermore, it is needless to say that the case where the functions ofthe embodiments described above are realized by the actual processing apart or the whole of which is executed by a CPU or the like provided ina function expanding board or a function expanding unit based on theinstructions of the program codes after the program codes read from themedium such as the storage medium has been read into the functionexpanding board inserted into a computer or the function expanding unitconnected to the computer is included in the present invention.

This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No.2004-210114 filed Jul. 16, 2004, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein.

1. An image processing apparatus, comprising: an input unit adapted toinput image data; a memory including a storage region for storing theimage data inputted by said input unit; a printer printing the imagedata in response to an user's instruction of printing the image datastored in said storage region; transmission unit adapted to transmit setinformation indicating setting of the storage region to an other imageprocessing apparatus; and controller adapted to control saidtransmission unit not to transmit the set information to the other imageprocessing apparatus when a pass word for accessing the storage regionis included in the set information, and to transmit the set informationto the other image processing apparatus when the pass word for accessingthe storage region is not included in the set information.
 2. An imageprocessing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising registeradapted to register the set information indicating the setting of thestorage region.
 3. An image processing apparatus according to claim 2,wherein said memory includes a plurality of storage regions, and saidregister can register different kinds of set information to theplurality of storage regions.
 4. An image processing apparatus accordingto claim 3, wherein the set information is composed of at least one ofnames of the storage regions, pass words for accessing the storageregions, and time intervals for automatically deleting the image datastored in the storage regions.
 5. An image processing apparatusaccording to claim 3, wherein said register can register set informationcommon to the plurality of storage regions.
 6. An image processingapparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: reception unitadapted to receive set information indicating setting of a storageregion included in another image processing apparatus from the otherimage processing apparatus; and updating unit adapted to update thesetting of own storage region based on the set information received bysaid reception unit.
 7. An image processing apparatus, comprising: aninput unit adapted to input image data; a memory including a storageregion for storing the image data inputted by said input unit; a printerprinting the image data in response to an user's instruction of printingthe image data stored in said storage region; transmission unit adaptedto transmit set information indicating setting of the storage region toan other image processing apparatus; and controller adapted to controlsaid transmission unit not to transmit a pass word in the setinformation to the other image processing apparatus when the pass wordfor accessing the storage region is included in the set information, andto transmit the set information to the other image processing apparatuswhen the pass word for accessing the storage region is not included inthe set information.
 8. An image processing apparatus, comprising: aninput unit adapted to input image data; a memory including a storageregion for storing the image data inputted by said input unit; a printerprinting the image data in response to an user's instruction of printingthe image data stored in said storage region; reception unit adapted toreceive set information indicating setting of the storage region from another image processing apparatus; updating unit adapted to update thesetting of the storage region based on the set information received bysaid reception unit; and controller adapted to control said updatingunit not to perform updating by said updating unit when a pass word foraccessing the storage region is set, and to perform the updating by saidupdating unit when the pass word for accessing the storage region is notset.
 9. An image processing system, comprising: an input unit adapted toinput image data; a memory including a storage region for storing theimage data input by said input unit; a printer printing the image datain response to an user's instruction of printing the image data storedin the storage region; transmission unit adapted to transmit setinformation indicating setting of the storage region to an imageprocessing apparatus; and controller adapted to control saidtransmission unit not to transmit the set information to the imageprocessing apparatus when a pass word for accessing the storage regionis included in the set information, and to transmit the set informationto the image processing apparatus when the pass word for accessing thestorage region is not included in the set information.
 10. An imageprocessing system according to claim 9, further comprising registeradapted to register the set information indicating the setting of thestorage region.
 11. An image processing system according to claim 10,wherein said memory includes a plurality of storage regions, and saidregister can register different kinds of set information to theplurality of storage regions.
 12. An image processing system accordingto claim 11, wherein the set information is composed of at least one ofnames of the storage regions, pass words for accessing the storageregions, and time intervals for automatically deleting the image datastored in the storage regions.
 13. An image processing system accordingto claim 11, wherein said register can register set information commonto the plurality of storage regions.
 14. An image processing systemaccording to claim 9, further comprising: reception unit adapted toreceive set information indicating setting of a storage region includedin said image processing apparatus from said image processing apparatus;and updating unit adapted to update the setting of own storage regionbased on the set information received by said reception unit.
 15. Animage processing system, comprising: an input unit adapted to inputimage data; a memory including a storage region for storing the imagedata inputted by said input unit; a printer printing the image data inresponse to an user's instruction of printing the image data stored insaid storage region; transmission unit adapted to transmit setinformation indicating setting of the storage region to an imageprocessing apparatus; and controller adapted to control saidtransmission unit not to transmit a pass word in the set information tosaid image processing apparatus when the pass word for accessing thestorage region is included in the set information, and to transmit theset information to said image processing apparatus when the pass wordfor accessing the storage region is not included in the set information.16. An image processing system, comprising: an input unit adapted toinput image data; a memory including a storage region for storing theimage data inputted by said input unit; a printer printing the imagedata in response to an user's instruction of printing the image datastored in said storage region; reception unit adapted to receive setinformation indicating setting of the storage region from an imageprocessing apparatus; updating unit adapted to update the setting of thestorage region based on the set information received by said receptionunit; and controller adapted to control said updating unit not toperform updating by said updating unit when a pass word for accessingthe storage region is set, and to perform the updating by said updatingunit when the pass word for accessing the storage region is not set. 17.An image processing method, comprising: an inputting step of inputtingimage data; a step of storing the image data inputted at said inputtingstep in a predetermined storage region in a memory; a print step ofprinting the image data in response to an user's instruction of printingthe image data stored in said storage region; a transmitting step oftransmitting set information indicating setting of the storage region toan image processing apparatus; and a control step of performing controlnot to transmit the set information to said image processing apparatuswhen a pass word for accessing the storage region is included in the setinformation, and to transmit the set information to said imageprocessing apparatus when the pass word for accessing the storage regionis not included in the set information.
 18. An image processing method,comprising: an inputting step of inputting image data; a step of storingthe image data inputted at said inputting step in a predeterminedstorage region in a memory; a printing step of printing the image datain response to an user's instruction of printing the image data storedin said storage region; a transmitting step of transmitting setinformation indicating setting of the storage region to an imageprocessing apparatus; and control step of performing control not totransmit a pass word in the set information to said image processingapparatus when the pass word for accessing the storage region isincluded in the set information, and to transmit the set information tosaid image processing apparatus when the pass word for accessing thestorage region is not included in the set information.
 19. An imageprocessing method, comprising: an inputting step of inputtingimage data;a step of storing image data inputted at said inputting step in apredetermined storage region in a memory; a print step of printing theimage data in response to an user's instruction of printing the imagedata stored in said storage region; a receiving step of receiving setinformation indicating setting of the storage region from said imageprocessing apparatus; an updating step of updating the setting of thestorage region based on the set information received at said receivingstep; and a control step of performing control not to perform theupdating at said updating step when a pass word for accessing thestorage region is set, and to perform the updating at said updating stepwhen the pass word for accessing the storage region is not set.